The Morning After

I guess I feel like the rest of you this morning. I haven’t got a hangover, but I might just as well have. It seems astonishing that we haven’t signed a single player during the transfer window. I seem to remember Alan Curbishley asked us to judge him at the end of the transfer window. To do that, however, would be unfair, for it is quite clear that he has been out of the loop in the club’s transfer dealings.

Quite how we have ended up without a recognised left back is a mystery to us all. We had the opportunity to sign Nicky Shorey but didn’t. It is quite clear to anyone that Lucas Neill is not comfortable in that position. Jonathan Spector has played there for us before, but if Neill is switched to the right, where does that leave Behrami? From what I have seen Behrami is better as a right side midfielder, but that is a position Faubert spcialises in. Having said that, he has played at right back before in his career. I suspect what we are looking at is a back four of Behrami/Faubert, Upson, Neill, Spector.

This is also an opportunity for Joe Widdowson to make his case to be played in the first team. He apparently did really well in pre season, but since then hasn’t even got on the new 7 strong bench. That may soon change. Another alternative would be to try Luis Boa Morte at left back. He played there for a bit recently and actually didn’t look half bad. My worry over McCartney’s departure is that the understanding he had built up with Matthew Etherington will damage our attack play now that he’s not there. Neill and Etherington have so far displayed no telepathy, which is so crucial for left sided (or indeed right sided) players.

But what hacks me off more than anything is that the club’s website has said nothing. They posted an explanation of McCartney’s move, which we may take at face value or not, depending on our level of scepticism, but after that, nothing. Nada.

Have none of the younger players gone out on loan? If not, why not?

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61 Responses to The Morning After

Totally agree with you Iain, I am totally gobsmacked that the announcement of midnight last nite hasn’t even happened not that we have sold Linda and not bought as unfortunetly that has become the west Ham way!!!

Agree with absolutely everthing you say Iain- especially that Curbs cant be blamed for this (partly as board have gone over his head and partly due to the fact its the reason we brought in Nani) and the utter disbelief that the club have said nothing whatsoever. I think Appiah will still come plus maybe Ferriera but even if they do we will look like a patchwork team playing people out of position (or at least not in their strongest) and it leaves us very open to an injury crisis with little to no cover!!

Good posting Iain. I get the feeling that Curbs thinks he can play LBM at left back – he came on in that position against Wigan. So he looked okay for the 20 minutes or so, but he reminded me of Paintsil – lacked positional awareness. I totally agree with you about McCartney Ethers link play – that was our strength – to dismantle this leaves us with real problems.

Why is it always West Ham that get into an intolerable mess. the board have gone out of their way to weaken our squad for cash every other premiership club has tried to strengthen their squad. These Icelanders talk a good deal but in practice are rubbish. the sooner they go the better.

You’re wrong about the back four. Neill, Upson, Davenport/Tomkins, Behrami will be the 1st choice.

Faubert has too much pace and attacking flair to play as a right-back in our team. Also he has become our first choice corner taker from either side, which would make us vulnerable to counter attacks as both Davenport and Upson are good in the air and come forward for corners too.

Couldn’t agree more. It belting down with rain outside and that makes West Ham’s inactivity all the more depressing. How can we allow an ever-present go – and his central partner -and not have a replacement of equal or better ability? Or even someone who can kick a ball with his left foot? What is Nani doing if he’s not bringing in quality talent of any age? If the money’s not there, what’s the point of an expensive Italian scout? In spite of the good start I have a nasty feeling about the season ahead. We are going to rely too heavily on too many fragile players in all areas of the park.

I watched sky sports news until late last night, heard about the possibility of Ferreiera coming on loan earlier in the day but, like you say, nothing from the club, no news no statement, other than to tell us that McCartneys wife was unhappy so we sold our only left back. It seems these days that West Ham United are only capable of leaking bad stories in the press. The only time we get statements, they are brief and as a response to the aforementioned.

There has been a change in the boardroom, we were told the new team was the best way forward and plans for a new ground or redevelopment of Upton Park were going ahead, then we get Nani, all good signs in my opinion, but the absolute silence is creating a kind of ‘news hole, which will be filled by speculation, conjecture, and wilfull mis-information by those with their own agenda.

There’s a fairly straight forward way of stopping this.

The club need to be more active in telling everyone what’s going on. Even if the news is not good, just tell us.

I’m taking my boots to the next game. Even if I don’t get a start I could upset the missus and maybe get a transfer, a new house and more money?

What happened to Ferreira which looked a done deal? Why was there rumours of a board announcement? The whole thing stinks and i cant see how Curbs and the board can continue without an explanation. We have had a good start with players coming back so i cant believe players didnt want to play for us. Either the club are being bought, or the money is being “put in the bank” for a new manager. I must admit i am starting to feel sorry for curbs and maybe he gets more stick than he deserves. The past week has shown the board up and if teams like Sunderland can spend we might as well pack our bags for the Championship right now!

What I have always found frustrating is that the Board / Chairman / Tea Lady or whoever never come out and give the fans an explanation as to what the clubs plans are , who they were trying to buy and the reasons the signings never came off. If I’m excpected to pay anything up to 60 odd pounds on a Saturday to walk through the gates at least tell me whats going on just once in a while.

McCartney started every game (or nearly every game) for us last season, but he’s only human, so the management must have had plans in place for coping with his short term or long term absence, through injury or whatever.

The Board must have confidence in those plans, since they didn’t have to accept this latest bid from Sunderland. They could have told McCartney they’d let him go in January, which would give them time to settle on a replacement. McCartney could hardly complain, after having signed a new contract and ‘committed his future to the club’ as recently as July.

Alternatively, the Board perhaps aren’t worrying too much about footballing matters, and are more concerned with making the finances appear more sound to prospective investors? There must be some more oil rich ‘punters’ out there, looking to have a dabble in the Premiership …

I can’t even think straight to write as I am so depressed. I did manage to write and fax a letter to the Board asking for an explanation or statement of intent now we have all this spare money running round the club; bet I don’t get a response, don’t feel the need to talk to the fans, at least Brown could be held accountable, this lot can do what it likes and we can do nothing about it but stop going to games.

I think it is an absolute disgrace. Even if George did put in a transfer request the board and manager should have been looking for a replacement from the word go and in all honesty, with only one left back at the club anyway, they should really have signed someone regardless of whether George was going or not.

Not to have a left back at a premier league club is downright incompetence and if I were Curbs I’d be mightily pissed off right now, they’ve done nothing but undermine him from the minute they wanted a technical director and since Nani has arrived things have gone from bad to worse for Curbs, i feel very sorry for him and I hope that at the next home match the fans will back Curbs and show thier frustration at BG, Nani and the board for clearly cashing in on West Ham. Duxberyy should be hung.

Alrite, this is wat we need 2 do i reckon.
*Neill or Davenport at CB with Upson. The other of Lucas and Davo at RB.

*LBM maybe at LB with possibly Widdowson playing a little there too.

*Behrami into RM if two of Bellars, Cole and Deano are unavailable as i reckon Faubert can slot up front preferably with Ashton. Use his pace, shot power etc, imagine Deano flicking the ball on for Julien to run onto, it could surprise a few of the opposition. And a creative tactic.

Ethers on the Left with Scotty P and Nobes in the Mid. Blood a few of the academy players and the new young ones around them and we should be able 2 do alrite. Let’s defy all odds and lets have a really good season, regardless of what is going on in the background continue to love and support in the true west ham way, and together we will show the west ham spirit.

Best wishes 2 curbs and the boys, we’re all behind you always, we can do something special no matter what. COYI!!!

Iain
There are two possible explanations (three if you are a conspiracy theorist). First, the credit crunch hit Iceland far worse than elsewhere and thus there is no ‘playtime’ money to waste on a football team. Second, they are building up a piggy bank to pay off Sheffield Utd. Third, this is as good a way as any to get rid of the manager.

I’m a supporter of Curbishley, but think he has been very badly treated by the Board. First, they bring in Nani to take buying (and obviously selling) responsibilities away from the manager. Then Nani does absolutely nothing. The only saving grace is that (I hope) Curbishley is no quitter and that he will galvanize what is left of the team.

Finally, this should be a reality check for those supporters who thought tenth position was no good. There are at least ten teams capable of spending much more money than WH. If money talks, a lower mid-table is the best that can be hoped for. And that would require no major injuries.

If we can make a positive out of a supreme act of folly by West Ham, it is that there is now an opportunity for a fringe player to make a bid for the specialised position of left back. I am thinking of Mullins who has never let us down wherever he plays. Others like Spector, Collins, Gabbidon may be unfit or unsuitable, but surely someone in the squad other than Neil, will take his opportunity. I have never seen Widdowson but his pre-season reports were good. It would appear that of all the positions on the pitch, left back is one of the most specialised and the player has to have the ability to feed the left sided winger. Neil cannot do this and Spector was only marginally better.

I stayed up til 3am in the hope of maybe hearing some late news or Fereira or Appiah, but NOTHING! I am sickened at this and 5 of us that usually try to get to every home game have decided not buy a single further ticket until we get some kind of explanation! I know it’s not a lot of money but over a year it amounts to about £3500! And that is £3500 I will NOT be lining those cracker-munching arseholes pockets with!!!

what is nani supposed to be doing for us i thought his role was to get us all these young italian players on the cheap but he has done nothing curbs i feel realy sorry for he seems to have no say in any dealings in transfers duxbury and the board are making us look a joke what good players would have wanted to join us yesterday we got rid of brown now its time to drive the icelanders out of our club and get someone whos got some money to run our club properly

To sell 2 of your starting back 4 and not replace either is simply astonishing!! I heard Johan Djourou was linked which would have been a great replacement, my friend is a Birmingham fan and said he is great talent. And when i heard Paulo Ferrari was coming in, who has played internationally at left back, the sale of McCartney looked like good business considering we only pad 1 million for him. But with no one coming in and other teams who i would want to finish above this season splashing the cash and strengthening I honestly think the best we can hope for is mid-table again.

I am also confused about the role of Nani, what are we paying this man to do. We all know Curbs has no real links or ideas about the european market and I thought this was where Nani came into things. Yet another waste of money in my opinion. If anyone can shed light on his role at the club please let me know??

Im sure there is more to this story, maybe Curbs will be gone by January and funds will be avaliable for a new manager. Or maybe we will have a new board by the next window. I hope we have a good start to the season and are not relegation candidates by Christmas. I have a feeling this could be a long and frustrating season!!

i feel a bit lost to be honest then club seems to of frozen up over the last couple of weeks is it curbs nani or the board i feel like we are not being told enough or lied to however you want to look at it not sure if the transers are anything to go on if so there is trouble ahead

It’s still quite hard to take in, no signings and another first team player, runner up to Hammer of the year leaving.

So much for those who said we need a new striker, a creative midfielder and a left back! The only left sided player at the club to Etherington, who is inconsistant and injury prone.

I can’t blame the club for not going down the road of the Chelskis, Manarabster city and the like, but a couple of decent signings was needed!

I feel sorry for Curbs and to a lesser degree, M Day. Scot Suxbury has admitted the club recieved a tranfer request from Linda long before Curbs and Day told us all no-one else would be leaving. Duxbury must have known this was going through!

Curbs told us all to judge him on the end of the window, must we now judge him or the club?

One thing for sure, I almost feel that the club has mugged me up! Grrh

Me, as well as Mr. Moon think that Curbs is going to play our defens like this:
BEHRAMI – UPSON – Davenport / TOMKINS / Collins/ Gabbidon / Spector – NEILL
My tip is that Tomka is gonna get Antons place and Neill is gonna play the left back althought not being comfortable there. I am not afraid of this defence tbh except the LB which will be our weakest ling this season.

I still think we are going to finish top 8 and suprice a lot of people as our team is good imo even without new signings. It does not mean that I like what our board did and that I would agree with playing without the natural born left back. But with Bellars, Ashton and the rest we are still good enough imo.

Whether the the board are sorting out the finances to sell the club on or put it on a firm financial footing doesn’t matter ;it’s a good idea either way. Financial insecurity and or the ability to compete with more solvent clubs has been at the heart of west ham’s problems for half a century. I’m glad we didn’t get sucked into the hysteria of the transfer window- watching Sky ‘Megaphone’ Sports last night was hysterical; it was like a scene from a roman slave market as conceived and executed Chris Morris on the Day Today! It’s vital to buy the right player not just any old player and if they won’t come then there’s not a lot you can do about it. We have eleven defenders, eleven midfielders and seven strikers in our first team squad of sufficent quality to avoid relegation. GM went not because the club wanted to sell him but because he wanted to go. It’s not ideal, admittedly, having only one specialist left back in his rookie season. And I would like to get some kind of steer from the board about what they are up to but then again no private business is going to lay out their strategy in detail; they’d be stupid to do so. I suggest waiting and seeing what gives before plunging into black despair – let’s face it – like every season bar four in the club’s history – we are not likely to be challenging for honours anyway this season; let’shope BG and co have a cunning plan to take to the next level where we have never been.. like most of you I’m not confident but I am hoping.

I don’t get this ‘credit crunch’ thing at all. I understand what it is (I can’t get a mortgage), and I understand our owner is a banker but so what? He is surely not buying West Ham and players out of income on the never never? My understanding was that he has made his billions already. I can understand that he wants to put the club on a sensible financial basis and that’s fair enough, but can the apologists please stop using a global credit crunch as an excuse? If he bought the club on credit and wants to buy players on credit then its a bit scary.

Unless of course someone can tell me where my thinking is flawed?

Another thing. Given that George signed a new deal not long ago, the ‘family didn’t settle’ argument doesn’t stand up. Was he tapped up by the Sunderland Irish exiles?

the club are quiet for one reason,they know best.we know nothing and are treated like we are bafoons.all this could have been squashed with a brief statement saying were not buying due to …. but were left with high hopes that someone is actually doing something to keep this club on track.mid table at best but ffs lets get off curbs back and suport what we have got.

remember….this is our club and we suport through the rare good times and ALL the bad times.

Lets just see what happens come Saturday.
I also sat up until the small hours waiting with anticipation for that signing that never came, even just a replacement for the then already departed Linda (oh and goood luck Linda, and no I don’t mean at Sunderland but just with being a hen pecked husband).

I think now is the time to get behind Curbs and the boys and really show what West Ham fans can bring to the team. I do feel let down but don’t want to add my negativity to an already fragile state, I think that the heat is being removed from Curbs and shifted to the board but the underlying problem of lack of flair and ability is still there and that is not the board but the way we had to play given the personnel problems. With a fully fit side (and sorry to say that yet again) we look good although very heavy on the right handside of the park. Neil, Behrami, Faubert, Dyer et el.

so given a full side the only issue as we have all realised even before Linda went is Left back, remind me again how Shorey was lost to us?

I think we bought a break on Saturday, had a great result against a Wigan side who I think can take points off of anyone and then I blame Noble for the Citeh debarcle, and we all know West Ham in the cup againsty a lower league side, I could have written that script the night before.

Keep smiling keep supporting the TEAM and show our displeasure when appropriate.

I take heart from the fact we kept ASHTON, NOBLE, BELLAMY, GREENO- our best players, dont get me wrong we needed to strengthen but Im not too sad to see Ferdi go, linda was solid if nothing more and we have a very good crop of youngsters will now will be given there chance. Tompkins wouldnt have played if Ferdinand hadnt gone, though I agree their failure to sign a left back seems stupid I would be glad to see a born and bred youngster having a go down the left than a born and bred northerner who handed in a transfer request but got forced to stay…….not covering for em just taking the positives

I personally love George McCartney so to see him go left me so extremely upset. But to then see no-one brought in to replace him. I am pissed! These nobs who have taken over do not care for our precious club, they just want what is best for them. Im sure one day West Ham’s luck will change………..maybe.

I am very proud, because of our tradition of bringing up young prospects and Tomka, Widdowson, Reid, Sears, Collison, Reid, Spence, Stanislas, Hines, Stech etc. will have bigger chance to get into the team now. We have also the young Icelander and young Hungarian for future. I for one do not see our future bad. I think we have potential.

And regarding our current squad – with Bellars, Ashton, Green, Upson, Behrami, Faubert, Parker – we are good enough. Just the left back is missing.

The board sold Anton and got no backlash from it so they thought with the international break it would die down before our next home game. To have sold GM ia awful to sell him and not have a contingency plan is disgusting. Lets get behind Curbs and make it him and us against the Board. I sat until 1 am hoping we had ‘signed someone who hadn’t come in yet’ not with this board. They want their money back, and will do at any cost.

As Tony Pullis the Icelandics just dont get our mentallity on football.

No team in the Premier League can compete unless it has a solid defence. I know it may sound boring, but if you can stop the opposition scoring you’ve achieved at least 1 point in a game. This builds confidence which allows your strikers to do their work and really when they are on song we do okay. WHU has long had a problem of defence (goalkeeper excluded) and few recent managers have every really addressed this issue. We should spend money firstly on good defenders, because if we don’t we won’t be in the Premiership.

If Curbs really does have an issue with the Board, he should offer his resignation. This will bring the matter to a head. After all, where will they find a decent replacement, when he will be cash-strapped and the club in a mess?

Sorry, haven’t read the replies, but was shocked with your comment about Widdowson doing well pre season. HE DIDN’T, I saw most of the games, believe me Neil would be a better choice. We are in big trouble at the back. If Behrami plays right back and Neil left back, then every team we play will have the opportunity to attack down the flanks and turn us over big time. Bet on us conceding at least 70 goals this season.

I have got this posting from another blog, a chap called Anon, he has summed it all up really!
Anon write the following….

I have watched the unjustified criticism of Alan Curbishley develop silently from afar and I have never in my 40 years as a supporter felt moved to register my feelings as I do now.

In keeping West Ham United in the Premiership, Alan Curbishley achieved a feat which has NEVER been bettered and will probably never be surpassed. He achieved the impossible.

He then went on to achieve respectable mid table security the very next season with one of the worst injury lists ever to hit a premiership team, and he achieved all this with bit part players and players having to play out of position.

Alan Curbishley has been unfairly abused and criticised over team selection and tactics when he hasn’t ever been able to field his strongest team whilst at the club. As if he hasn’t had enough on his hands in dealing with idiot supporters and even worse press, he has an even bigger problem to deal with – the invisible chairman and incompetent CEO.

BG hasn’t been honest with us or more importantly Alan Curbishley. BG isn’t a chairman who is trying to do the best for West Ham United, just himself. In the case of Anton Ferdinand, the ONLY centre half of his type at the club AND there isn’t another with all his attributes in the country, was sold OVER the manager’s head (and probably against his wishes).

This is probably true of Bobby Zamora also and although Bobby couldn’t say too much for getting Curbs in trouble, he said enough to let us all know that something was afoot.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, BG sells our ONLY left back at the club. The manager and the team have been totally undermined and to the players that remain this is a very bad message.

Much has been made of Freddie Ljungberg and the wages he was on etc etc, but the truth is the chairman signs the contracts and KNEW what Freddie was getting and to be honest he WAS a creative force in the team towards the end of last season and would probably have been a player Curbs would’ve kept.

BG if you can’t take the heat, get OUT of the kitchen that is my club and take that idiot Scott with you.

We have done the plastic chairman thing and we want a proper chairman, even teams like Wigan seem to have more spending power than, the selling club that is West Ham United.

This now has to be one of the smallest and youngest squads we have ever had Those physios and medical team had better work their wonders

Of these 34 – 9 are kids (Stokes, Hines, Jeffrey, Spence, Stanislas, Widdowson, Eyjolfsson, Sears, Collison although Sears and Collison have 1st team airtime) so actually its 25

4 are long term injured (Gabbidon, Spector, Dyer, Collins – and Collison/Tomkins are short term I believe injured at the moment as well) so its 21

2 don’t count as they are goalies never used (Walker, Stech) down to 19

We have 1 player who has been MIA for 18 months (Quashie) – 18

You are allowed to field 18 inc 7 bsubs on a match day so currently we have exactly the number we could field who are viable premiership players and quality

Of the squad of 34 they are spread across the following positions
Goalies 4 (Green, Walker, Stech, Lastuvka) Why have we not sold Walker?

Right backs 1 (Neill) OK Behrami is a passable but not very good replacement here
but there are options

Left backs 2 (Widdowson, Spector – thats a joke either short term because of injury or long term) Note we have no left back other than Widdowson who is a kid of 18 – duh I wonder where teams are going to focus on attacking us This is unbelievable How did we not get a replacement?

Centre backs 7 (Upson, Davenport, Collins, Gabbidon, Eyjolfsson, Tomkins, Spence) Gabbidon is long term injured Collins may be back soon Tomkins ditto Eyjolfsson is a 17 year old kid

Right wingers – 2 (Faubert, Behrami) Why 2 class players here and not a left back?

Left wingers 4 – (Etherington, Boa Morte, Dyer if he’s ever fit and Reid) Why hasn’t one of Boa Morte and Reid not been sold or preferably both and a left back be purchased?

Forwards – 6 (Ashton, Bellamy, Sears, Cole, Stanislas, Stokes) I think Stanislas has played for Cambridge in the lower leagues on loan Stokes not sure if he has been anywhere or perhaps QPR Very thin as Bellamy is just back

Just to say there’s a horse running in the 4.20 at Goodwood today called ‘Hammer’ … according to the papers, its a good each-way bet … that is, of course, as long as BG hasn’t sold its back leg to Sunderland ….

How come Man City get taken over by Arabs and immediatly spend £32 mil on Robinho and what have we got? Another tight owner. All this rubbish about pushing for a Champions League place in the next few years, the way our board are going the only place we will be pushing is straight for the Championship.

I think it was Bob Paisley who once said, “Football is not life & death. It’s more than that.” Heavens to murgatroid snagglepuss, we not only didn’t sign, we sold our only left back. Luis Boa Morte…to the foyer please, you are being called. This might be his big chance. I’ve stuck up for the Icelanders but i’m a bit rattled at the moment. If they have a plan, it’s obviously top secret & almost unfathomable to the common man. It’s about money. It has to be. We still have a pretty good side & we have the West Ham spirit. Lets hope that carries us through what looks like some turbulent times ahead. I feel sorry for Curbs, as has been said before. He wants for the best, but is doing it under the most difficult of circumstances. Lets hope the players rally to support him. It will be interesting to see how fans & players respond at the next home game. I love the smell of napalm in the morning. It smells like…victory.

Being patient is a quality that many long-term Hammers fans posess – let’s face it – we have to. So I waited to pass judgment until after the transfer window closed.

Now we’re here in the cold light of day. Having expected BACKUP for McCartney to arrive instead we sell him? We’ve sold Bobby Z and are now left with Ashton (Injury Prone), Bellamy (Injury Prone), Freddi Sears (Very short of experience) and Zavon Hines(Very very short of experience). Oh – almost forgot – then there’s CC who scores something like 1 goal every 10 games for us (Nobes gets more than that and he’s not even a striker).

Iain – you’re bang on about the Website. The board seem to be burying their heads in the sand in the vain hope that the problem will disappear. I really liked the cut of the Icelandic Owner’s Jib – they made all the right noises when they arrived but seem to be going back on their promises of not selling off the products of Tony Carr’s academy.

I sincerely hope that Curbs and Merv have serious words with the Board and Upper management of the club. They have been completely undermined and made to look like mugs after having publically announced that no further players would be sold and 3-4 players would be joining.

Just one small extra point. Someone asked “Why Man City?” for the Arab investment. One of the things they recognised was the fact that even in the 3rd tier of English league football Man City were getting 30K+ fans who always backed their team. Talk of sending back season tickets and walkout protests won’t help attract rich investors in future seasons. Let’s justify our place as the best supporters in the country, shall we, and get behind the team on the pitch?

Just when did the whingers move in to support West Ham? We used to be a realistic bunch.

The offiicial Toulouse website is reporting that Herita Ilunga has joined WHU on a season long loan; the agreement was reached llate ast night shortly before the transfer deadline. A bit of research indicates Ilunga is 26 and he was/is the regular left back for Toulouse and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Cannot see why this information would be incorrect, given its origin, so the continuing silence from the club and lack of any kind of information is even more bewildering.

Come on guys all is not lost,we got good money for average players!! curbs spent poorley the board want some money back why? dont know arbitration maybe? I know you lot might think I’m crazy but Lets give lbm a chance at left back hes got blistering pace and a hard tackle,lets give him one more chance,just got keep our fingers crossed he dont stick out foot in the box! I agree no left back at the club is madness! hope curbs does not put right footers on the left thats pants!! I must be alone here but I really didnt think linda was that good,neil made him seem good.

I think it is about time that BG and his cronies (Brits and Icelandic) understood that they might think they own the club, but they don’t own its heart & soul, only bricks and mortar. They are caretakers only, but have a responsibility to those who love the club to ensure it thrives and is looked after. It seems to me they are only interested in getting as much money out of us as possible. The BM06 stunt is to me a good example of this.

We need to get behind AC and the team, and let BG etc know where they stand . Quite how we do this I’m not sure, but not in a way that the press can exploite.

I have not felt so low as I do at present in the 35+ years I have followed the irons.

The sneaky f****rs at WH have rather blatantly dropped the news article about Linda leaving down the pecking order so that it doesn’t appear on the homepage anymore. Articles usually appear chronologically but that one, which written this morning, is now listed below those from the day before.

How stupid do they think we are?? Do they really think that if they bury it away we’ll all forgt about it and calm down???

liked macca, but i think that behrami at right back and faubert at right mid is a good combination. ALso, maybe kyle ried could play left back? He’s inexperieenced but i like him, with a bit of training…back in the day Konchesky and etherington were great on the left, but then konch went off. Then he went to fulham.

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About Iain Dale

I'm a season ticket holder in the Dr Martens Lower and originally come from Saffron Walden in Essex, although I now live in Tunbridge Wells. By day I am a political writer and commentator for various media organisations including the Daily Telegraph, the BBC and Sky News. I am also publisher of the new monthly magazine called TOTAL POLITICS. I want this blog to be a mixture of gossip, humour, reporting and analysis - with the odd rant thrown in too. My other blog is a political one at http://iaindale.blogspot.com and if West Ham Till I Die attracts half as many readers as that, I'll be very happy.